The Current State and Future of Employee Well-being 2023

Ensure holistic well-being of employees today and tomorrow

Organizations increasingly expect employees to do more with less. In fact, Meta has declared the year 2023 to be the “Year of Efficiency.”1 But what does this mean for employee well-being?

Studies show that a comprehensive well-being strategy and culture positively impact business performance.2 Employees today face a myriad of well-being challenges. With increasing longevity, older employees have to stay in the workforce longer while other employees belong to the “sandwich generation” and have to juggle taking care of their children and elders.

This report by the HR Research Institute investigates the current state and future of employee well-being in organizations. Further, results of this year’s survey have been compared to results from the previous two years to make observations regarding changes in well-being trends over the recent past.(3,4)

Key Findings

1. Organizations strive to improve employee well-being through various special initiatives.

2. Few organizations deem their well-being programs as highly effective, but most organizations rate them as being at least moderately effective.

3. Although there are many potential benefits to well-being programs, none were chosen by a majority of organizations, perhaps because many initiatives are still just not effective enough.

4. Remote and hybrid work flexibility is among the most commonly provided well-being initiatives at present and this is expected to continue into the future, but its effects on employee well-being are not seen as robust.

5. Negative stress is prevalent in many organizations, but just 31% say they are excellent at helping employees address stress issues.

6. Mental health is a priority for HR in the majority of organizations and is most commonly dealt with by using Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs).

7. Organizations primarily offer healthcare benefits to support employees’ physical wellbeing.

8. Employees are plagued by a number of competing financial stressors, and half of organizations offer financial education to improve employee financial well-being.

9. Well-being leader organizations provide more initiatives to support all types of well-being and are better able to maintain employee well-being levels.

Which Types of Well-being Do Organizations Enhance via Specific Initiatives?

Well-being is multifaceted, and organizations that seek to improve employee well-being must focus on various aspects of it. Respondents were asked to rate the initiatives their organizations look to to improve via specific initiatives. Results indicate that more than 7 in 10 organizations use initiatives to increase mental/emotional well-being, and about two-thirds aim to improve work environment wellbeing (64%) and physical well-being (63%). Over half of the organizations improve financial well-being (54%) through their initiatives.

their organization strives to enhance social well-being via

Which types of employee well-being does your organization

Mental/emotional well-being

Work environment well-being (e.g., physical, vir tual)

Physical well-being

Financial well-being

Career well-being

Social well-being

None of the above

How Well Are Organizations Doing with Regard to Employee Well-being?

The last three years have been challenging for employee well-being. In that short span of time, employees have dealt with Covid-19 pandemic restrictions and challenges, social justice movements, economic upheavals, a sudden shift to remote work, and political instabilities. A good measure of the success of well-being initiatives is their ability to maintain employee wellness levels through these tumultuous times. About three-quarters (73%) of respondents say they have maintained employee well-being to only a moderate degree or lower while just over a quarter claim to have done so to a high (20%) or very high degree (7,7)

How do employee well-being initiatives benefit organizations? About two-fifths of organizations that implement well-being initiatives report greater employee engagement (43%), increased employee experience (40%), and improved employee retention (37%). However, none of the outcomes are chosen by a majority.

We asked respondents who rated the effectiveness of their organization’s well-being initiatives as low or very low to elaborate on reasons for this ineffectiveness. Half (49%) say their organization does not have enough well-being efforts. About two-fifths say the initiatives they do have are lackluster (41%), and many employees continue to have concerns about well-being (39%).

What Well-being Initiatives Have Employers Used in the Past and What Will They Use in the Future?

We asked respondents to choose initiatives their organizations have deployed to ensure employee well-being over the last two years. More than half have allowed more employees to work remotely at times (60%), provided more informational sources to help employees cope with stressors (59%), and ensured employees had the resources and support to do their jobs (56%). While these are good initiatives, just over a third have created regular well-being check-ins/conversations for employees (36%).

Over the last two years what types of initiatives has your organization used to better secure employee well-being? (select all that apply)

Allowed more employees to work remotely at times

Provided more informational sources to help employees cope with stressors

Ensured employees had the resources and suppor t to do their jobs

Provided resources and/or training to managers to better suppor t employees

Provided additional employee benefits

C reated regular well-being check-ins/conversations for employees

Offered more paid-leave oppor tunities

Other - Write In training to managers to better suppor t employees

What initiatives have organizations offered to support the physical well-being of their employees?

More than 8 in 10 organizations offer healthcare benefits (85%) to promote employees’ physical well-being. However, the focus on preventive care is considerably less commo, with just over half (54%) offering these initiatives. Since the pandemic, we believe there’s been a rise in the popularity of telemedicine/virtual healthcare (58%) and wellbeing apps (41%).

How Are Organizations Securing Employees’ Mental and Physical Well-being?

Employee mental well-being is a priority for HR in most organizations. In almost 9 in 10 organizations, employee mental health is among the top ten priorities for HR, with half saying it is among the top three (36%) or the top priority (13%).

What Organizations Do to Ensure Financial Wellness?

We asked respondents to choose the top three sources of employee financial stress. Difficulty in saving to enjoy life's simple pleasures (e.g., vacation, new car, etc.), childcare expenses, and unexpected emergency expenses are tied for first place (33%). Closely following are running out of money before payday (30%) and difficulty saving for retirement (29%). About a quarter also deal with credit card debt (25%) and medical expenses and/ or debt (26%). The financial issues employees face depend on unique situations and may require a personalized effort to handle some of these issues.

Notes

1 Vanian, J. (2023, February 2). Meta's 'year of efficiency' was everything wall street needed to hear from Zuckerberg. CNBC. Retrieved from https://www.cnbc.com/2023/02/01/metas-year-of-efficiencyeverything-wall-street-needed-to-hear.html

2 Goetzel, R. Z., Fabius, R., Fabius, D., Roemer, E. C., Thornton, N., Kelly, R. K., & Pelletier, K. R. (2016). The stock performance of C. Everett Koop Award winners compared with the Standard & Poor's 500 index. Journal of occupational and environmental medicine. Retrieved from https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih. gov/26716843/

3 HR.com’s HR Research Institute. (2021, February). The state of employee health and well-being 2021. Retrieved from https://ww.hr.com/en/resources/free_research_white_papers/ the-state-of-employee-health-and-well-being-2021-r_kkz1ij2w. html

4 HR.com’s HR Research Institute. (2022, June). The state of employee well-being 2022. Retrieved from www.hr.com/en/resources/free_research_white_papers/thestate-of-employee-well-being-2022-report_l3wm44c2.html

For more insights on this topic and key takeaways, check out the complete report.